Reviews for Olay's Thai Lao Cuisine in Honolulu, HI
Amazing pad Thai! So good that it's hard to order anything else. We've gone twice now and gotten the Pad Thai because it's... perfect. Next time we will definitely try something though. This is a must eat place. Cool outside area next to a koi pondwaterfall. It's BYOB on the alcohol and there's a little liquor store right next door. Great staff and service as well. Allaround a great place. Will be back many more times. Read more
This restaurant is in Chinatown. We had to pay for parking in a private lot. No parking available infront of the store. As we... entered, we were told reservations only. We did not know, you MUST have reservation but the staff greeted us and sat us downwithin minutes. I assumed they were not busy at the time so she took us to the table. Casual dining. The dining area is not inthe restaurant itself. It’s seating is outside of their back area. Food is a little pricey, we were already prepared. After 10hours flight on the plane, we were expecting a good home style meal. It was good, but not best we have had. With tips includedour bill was $225. The only thing that I found that was annoying was flies since it was outside dining. Was kind ofdisappointed with the Lao version papaya salad that is pictured. As a papaya salad(Tom makhong) lover myself knows, if thereisn’t any phadek or phla ra in the salad, it ain’t Lao lol but I recommend if you are looking for Lao/Thai food! Read more
Have only ordered take out until today. Food has always been amazing. Dined in today. Service took forever, but they have a sign... up that says they take their time preparing each dish from scratch. So just be aware if you are on a time crunch, not a goodchoice. Love the outside dining area. So pretty! Read more
Thought it was a cool restaurant aesthetically. I had never been to a Laotian restaurant so ordered the bamboo shoot stew - it... smells and tastes earthy. I have had bamboo shoots before but the smell is definite acquired. My partner got the pad see-ew andquite enjoyed it. Good warm service like you get in all of Hawaii. Read more
Like most reviews say, don’t let the neighbourhood put you off! Such authentic, tasty Thai/Laos food. The setup is quaint &... lovely, makes you feel in a secluded garden. They don’t serve alcohol, but you can bring your own & they don’t charge anuncorking fee. Almost every item has a vegan/vegetarian option, which I appreciate. Good for kids - even have little picnicbenches for them. Will go back next time we’re visiting family here. Read more
Don't let the outside scare you. Once you enter the restaurant you feel completely transported to a different world and their... reinterpretation of pop songs starts to relax you almost immediately. The service was wonderful and the wait staff helped mepick out the right dish which was just perfect. Spicing is generally on point especially for my dinner partner who prefersmilder foods and I prefer spicier ones. Though generally for us the portions on the island are absolutely massive we didn'tfeel overly scared by these portions. Overall highly recommend stopping by. We didn't have a reservation but the host wasaccommodating and got us in and we were earlier for dinner. Major points for this. Read more
My favorite restaurant at home is a Laotian restaurant, so now I want to try every Lao restaurant everywhere I travel too.... Olay's was great! As someone who only eats fish and no other meat, there's not a tooon of options for me but sticky rice andjeow and all I need anyway :) Their jeow was so good here. The jeow maak len tasted like the tomatoes were roasted and it was soflavorful with the perfect amount of spice. The jeow som was tangy, fishy and amazing. I didn't realize the steamed veggieentree was very literal, and that is exactly what it is--a plate of steamed veggies. I thought there might be a sauce orsomething but it was fine--they were good and fresh and honestly needed after my days of indulging on less vegetable-y foods. Idipped the veggies in the jeow too which was good. My travel partners got the lao sausage with sticky rice and khua mee stirfried noodles. They enjoyed the sausage and loved the noodles. I tried the noodles too and they were great. Khua Mee is verysimilar to Pad Thai so if you like that then you'll love this. We also got the fresh summer rolls which were really good. Kindawish it came with more than 4 but they are tasty. Normally I don't like peanut dipping sauces as much as more vinegary soursauces but this peanut sauce is really good. It doesn't taste like peanut butter, it has some tang to it and some spice. It wasso cute in there too, I loved their patio seating, it felt like you were dining in a secret garden. Would love to come here andtry their thai curry too someday. Highly recommend if you're in Chinatown! Read more
Great food! Different in an authentic way! Rice came in a steam box and chicken larb was not too sweet, which is appreciated.... Thai basil was delicious. All good food! Read more